Our Trustees and staff have been working for several months to select the best replacement database for Berkshire MS Therapy Centre. The database (known as a CRM, or Customer Relationships Management system) is a vital tool for supporting fundraising. With no money coming from the NHS, an effective database keeps the Centre going by securing the £650,000 annual running costs.
Our current database, Donor Strategy, is out of date and generally no longer fit for purpose. Having checked which system similar sized charities use, and looking at what is available, we have selected a system called Beacon.
Beacon is both more cost effective to run, will minimise manual data import/export plus it will provide more advance management information to aid planning and monitoring.
The Beacon migration team (staff, Trustees and other third-party specialists) will be working to ‘migrate’ (switch over) to Beacon. This includes training, testing and moving current data. Beacon will link with other software packages in use including:
- Cliniko – used by the Physio Team to manage their clients
- Xero – our new finance/payroll system (following a move from Sage in spring 2025)
Throughout the spring, a great deal of activity is needed to enable us to be ready to switch from Donor Strategy to Beacon. Work will continue from April onwards with a target ‘go live’ date to be confirmed in the early summer. But be assured, the Beacon migration team is working together to realise the benefits Beacon offers to BMSTC.
We will be in touch again to report progress over the coming months.
Penny Tillson
Trustee and Beacon Migration Project Manager
